Ignition booster



SeP- 10, 1935. F, w. cLAYBRooK 2,014,064

IGNITION BOOSTER Filed Dec. '7, 1932 INVENTOR.

'euh/5 ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 10, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IGNITION BOOSTER Frederick William Claybrook, Cumberland, Md.

Application December 7, 1932, Serial No. 646,205

7 Claims. (Cl. 123.-148) The invention relates to improvements in the ignition systems of internal combustion engines and comprises a leak correcting assembly herein y described which is either inserted in the high tension ignition line between the induction coil and the distributor, or is built into the induction coil as a part thereof.

'Ihe objects of the improvement are as follows:

l. To keep the potential off of the spark plugs 10 until the potential of the induction coil has reached a value suflicient to produce a proper spark in the combustion chamber of the engine;

2. To prevent excessive leakage of current over and through the high tension ignition system;

3. To intensify appreciably the high frequency current in the high tension ignition circuit;

4. To provide an ignition booster or intensifier which may either be connected in the line of high k tension ignition between the induction coil and distributor or may be built into the ignition coil;

5. To provide a booster which is simple, yet novel and efficient for the above mentioned purposes; and

6. To provide a booster which is so substantial in construction that it will not be injuriously aiected by burning when employed for the purposes intended, or be subject to deterioration through corrosion, and in which the predetermined resistance of the device remains uniform under the strain of continued use.

Spark intensiers have heretofore been connected either on each spark-plug of the engine, or in the conductor wire leading from the induction coil to the distributor; but the present invention is so designed that it may be connected either between the induction coil and the distributor, or be built into the induction coil as a part thereof.

Furthermore, spark intensiiiers of auxiliary gap construction are frequently introduced in the ignition systems of internal combustion engines, but by nature of their construction the electrodes forming the gap are subject to more or less deterioration caused by burning away of the points. This very obviously increases the resistance in the high tension circuit until the efficiency of the device is sooner or later destroyed, thus creating liability of injury to the induction coil by causing it to overheat and break down under the too great load thereby increasingly imposed upon it. rlne present invention has been so designed as to overcome this objectionable feature of the spark intensiiers above described.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention further includes certain novel features and details of construction, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:-

Figure l is a perspective view illustrating the invention connected in the distributor of an internal combustion engine.

Figure 2 is a similar view of the device removed a from the cylinder casing or container.

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view.

Figure 3a is a cross section of the tubular part l2 of Fig. 3.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the 10 device mounted in an ignition coil as a part of the same.

Referring to the drawing, b indicates the casing or container, which may be made of hard rubber or any other suitable insulating material. l5

The opposite ends of the cylindrical casing b are provided with threads internally into which are screwed contact ends 'i and 2 of brass or other suitable conducting material. Contact end 2 is provided with a socket 3 of standard 20 diameter and depth to permit the snug insertion of the high tension lead wire l from the induction coil of an internal combustion engine. Contact end 2 is provided with a machine screw Il) which is longitudinally inserted through it to 25 engage a, binding hex nut l l and this screw projects far enough beyond the hex nut to permit an expansion tube l2 of brass or suitable con ducting material to be screwed upon the same in rigid contact with hex nut ll. The expansion 30 tube l2 is for the purpose of connecting the device into the top of a distributor of an internal combustion engine. To serve that purpose it is longitudinally slotted at i3 through both sides and nearly its full length to permit sufficient 35 expansion and contraction to cause it to be snugly inserted in distributor caps having sockets of variable sizes.

The construction of lthe ignition boosting unit of the invention is as follows: 40 A metallic core l having a Contact flanged head is passed through an insulating washer 5 of fibre or other suitable material, said washer being of slightly smaller diameter than the interior of the casing container b. A pile of very 45 thin mica washers 9, are pressed closely together upon said metallic core l together with a washer 6 of nbre or other suitable insulating material, all of these being riveted upon the metallic core Il. The washers 9, 9 and washer 6 are .all of the same 50 diameter on the outside as well as on the inside, but the outside diameter of same is sufficiently less than the inside diameter of the casing container b to form with the inner surface of container b an annular air cooling space a1. 55

A ribbon conductor lead S of spring brass or other suitable material is bent in the form of a U spring one side of which parallels and engages in rigid contact the pile of mica washers 9, 9 on one side thereof. This spring conductor 8 60 is kept in place by being clamped at one end between the pile of mica Washers 9, 9 and an insulating cap of porcelain 1 or other suitable material which covers the end of the metallic core Il and the mica pile 9, 9, and is further held in rigid contact with the pile of mica washers 9, 9 by its pressure upon the inside of the casing container b. The ribbon conductor lead 8 is then carried beyond the end of the insulating cap and bent into such shape as to make connection with contact end 2', while at the same time it serves to press the booster unit towards contact end 2 and keeps it in connection with same at the anged contact head of the metallic core Il.

The operation of the invention is as follows:

In the ignition systems of internal combustion engines, the leads, or conducting means from the spark-plug gaps, have a specified capacitance. If, however, there is a leak in the high tension line between the induction coil and the sparkplug gaps the maximum voltage will not be reached and, consequently, the spark will be diminished or it may not occur at all. This, of course, will depend upon the size or extent of the leak.

Leads which have poor or worn insulation, imperfect connections, carbon in spark-plugs, or moisture on porcelains (which condenses while the engine is idle, especially at night or in cold weather), all are to be regarded as leaks.

If, however, some practical means can be found to bring a portion of the high tension ignition circuit which has no leaks to a high potential, or sufficiently high voltage, and then, if by some means this high potential portion of the circuit be connected in the line to the spark-plugs, the low potential portion of the circuit, i. e., the portion where the leaks exist, may be brought quickly to a potential sufficiently high to produce a spark of the proper ignition value.

While the high tension ignition circuit still has the same leaks in it as before, yet the innitesimal time required for the potential or voltage to build up proper strength in the low potential portion of the circuit is so much less that a smaller charge of electricity passes through the latter; therefore, the potential of the entire circuit will be higher, and unless the leak or leaks prove too great for such a remedya short circuit, for instance-the current will have a sufficient potential to fire regularly and efficiently at the spark-plug portion.

The invention herein described provides sufficient resistance to the current at low voltage to allow the potential to build up strength on the induction side of the circuit. This invention operates upon the principle of a high resistance brush discharge condenser.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, the operation of the invention may be readily followed. The cur rent from the secondary winding I4 of the induction coil of an internal combustion engine enters the device from the induction coil socket I5 through the induction coil lead wire I which is inserted in socket 3. It then passes through the metallic core 4 in a longitudinal direction until it meets an obstruction at the insulating cap 'I through which it cannot pass, whereupon it backs up and changes its course from a longitudinal direction to horizontal and then passes between the mica washers 9, 9, to the ribbon spring lead conductor 8, whence it continues to the distributor, spark-plugs, and ground by the channel of the electrode contact 2, Ill and I2. The result is a rush discharge possessing higher potential and higher frequency value.

When the potential induced by the induction coil becomes suciently high the resistance of the device will immediately break down and allow the current of high potential to pass. In other words, the described device has an infinite resistance until it is once overcome by the energy it condenses, when it becomes a very eihcient conductor and allows the charge lof high potential to rush without interruption to the spark-plugs.

After the high potential charge has passed through the device, however, the resistance again becomes high until the induction coil has built up a potential strong enough to overcome it and produce another spark of the proper ignition value across the gap of a spark-plug. Thus its operation as described above will be constantly repeated. 'Ihe device therefore acts as an automatic switch which allows the high tension ignition current of an internal combustion engine to pass from the induction coil when the potential of the current is at its maximum capacitance and which seals the ignition system against leaks while the induction coil is building up a high tension or high pressure for the next spark.

The invention is susceptible of various changes in its form, proportions and details of contruction within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention what is claimed isz- 1. An ignition intensifying device comprising a pile of thin washers composed entirely of refractory insulating material in facial contact with each other and centrally perforated, a conducting terminal extending through said perforations, and another conducting terminal in contact with the peripheries of said washers.

2. An ignition intensifying device comprising a pile of thin washers composed entirely of refractory insulating material in facial Contact with one another and centrally perforated, a conducting terminal in contact with said washers at their innel` edges, another terminal in contact therewith at their outer edges, and means for connecting said device in the spark-plug circuit of an internal combustion engine.

3. In an ignition booster, comprising a metallic core having a flanged contact head, la pile of insulating washers closely pressed together and. rmly held in place on said metallic core, and a cap of refractory substance which completely insulates one end of said metallic core,

4. An ignition booster comprising a pile of thin washers of refractory material having a relatively high resistance, a suitable container for said washers having members for connecting the same in the circuit of the induction coil, land contact terminals in said circuit, one making contact with the internal edges of said washers and the G0 other with the external edges thereof.

5. An ignition booster as specified in claim 4, wherein one of said contact terminals is a spring which exerts pressure endwise of said pile of washers. G5

6. An ignition booster, as specified in claim 4, in which one of said contact terminals is a spring which exerts pressure laterally against said pile of washers.

"1. An ignition booster, as specied in claim 4, in which said washers .are made of thin mica sheets.

FREDERICK WILLIAM CLAYBROOK. 

